Best UK Poker Sites

Find the top 10 UK poker sites with tax-free winnings for all UK & European players below. All top UK poker sites are offically licensed and regulated in a UK jurisdiction, monitored by regulatory bodies for fair play and financial security and offer special advantages for UK & European players.

All UK poker sites offer a Pound Sterling currency option, although they are also open for play to most European nations and offer transactions in most European currencies. As the largest online poker guide, we have also negotiated the highest sign-up bonus deals for you as a UK or European player.

About the Best UK Poker Sites

The biggest and most popular UK poker sites are, for the most part, the poker arms of very well-established UK gambling companies.

William Hill Poker, Ladbrokes Poker and 888 Poker are just three examples of classic UK sportsbook and casino companies that have been in business, in some cases, for over 100 years.

Despite the title, "UK poker sites" are not exclusive to British citizens.

Due to legal reasons most UK poker sites don't accept players from the U.S., but the setting is still quite international and a large portion of the player base comes from other European countries and the rest of the world.

Still, the bulk of players come from the United Kingdom and it's the Brits that frequent the Texas Holdem and Omaha tables the most.

As an added benefit, UK sites also often offer promotions directly aimed at the UK market such as satellites to live tournaments around the country (the Irish Poker Open and the GUKPT, for example).

Secure and Regulated

The biggest thing going for UK-based poker sites these days is definitely the level of licensing and regulation players can expect.

Sportsbooks and casino gambling are veritable institutions in the UK and the industry has been government approved and regulated for a long time.

Online there’s less of a history, but most UK poker sites have still been in operation for over a decade and have to run through a full range of tests and approvals before even earning a license to operate.

Game play and other gambling control issues, such as underage players and problem gambling, is also taken very seriously and enforced.

The bigger of the UK poker sites - 888 Poker, William Hill Poker, Betfair Poker, etc. - are predominately the poker channels of huge sportsbetting and casino companies which are extremely profitable and secure

Party Poker, once the largest poker site in the world and now the third-largest, is also a casino provider and a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange.

Poker Stars is privately owned and based on the Isle of Man off the UK coast and is also subject to strict safeguards regarding player deposits and gaming regulations.

By far, the UK poker sites are definitively the most advanced and progressive in the industry when it comes to official government licensing and regulation

Getting Money On and Off

With that official government licensing and regulation comes another benefit – the ease of moving money on and off the site.

As it’s an officially licensed, regulated and taxed business, all of the normal channels for financial transactions are available to consumers as they would be for any other business.

Making a deposit or withdrawal to or from a UK poker site is more often than not a simple five-minute transaction with a standard credit card like Visa or Mastercard or even a bank debit card.

Third-party processors like Neteller and Skrill, prepaid gift cards, wire transfers … the ways to get money online with a UK poker site are plentiful and secure.

Tax-Free Profits

For those that live in the UK there’s another major benefit to playing on a UK-licensed poker site – tax-free winnings.

Thanks to an EU rule against double taxation passed in 2001, EU citizens who make a profit at a European casino do not have to pay taxes on their winnings.

There are a few exceptions to this rule, and tax law can get somewhat murky whenever there is a substantial amount of money moved across borders, but for the most part European Union players can play and withdraw tax-free.

It is best of course to check specifically with the poker site and your local jurisdiction to see if any exceptions apply.

Where and When the Action Is

Given the shifting climate for US poker sites and the truly global nature of the game these days, UK poker sites are actually where most of the action is now.

A large portion of tournament schedules that used to cater to American players and the North American time zone have also now been shifted to suit European time zones.

And most of the action at both the high- and low-stakes cash tables now happens at prime European hours, or roughly 4 pm-midnight GMT.

Tournament starts times match up extremely well for European players on the weekends and fewer very late nights or early mornings are needed if you run deep.

PokerStars is still by far and away the biggest poker site online but William Hill, Party, Betfair and bwin Poker are much closer in traffic than they used to be and gaining steadily.

Pound and Euro Predominant Currency

It’s a minor point, but bottom line is it’s just more convenient to play and win money in your own currency.

Not only do you not have to deal with fluctuating exchange rates, you’re not paying points on every transaction to change money back and forth.

On UK poker sites, the predominant currency is naturally the Pound Sterling rather than the US dollar.

The Euro is of course standard as well and if you're from another part of Europe you most likely will be able to play in your own home currency if you choose.

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